First of all, I need to pay my respects to Lanxal and the rest of the Pauper Cube thread community. My early versions of the cube were rather rough, to put it kindly, and following their discussions and browsing their own cube lists has helped me refine my own cube into something resembling a well-designed Limited format much more quickly than I could have done through playtesting alone. Thanks guys.
As the title suggests, I mostly play 1-on-1 sealed-deck matches and Winchester drafts with a couple of different friends, but I also run larger drafts (6-8 people) at my local game store from time to time. So I've tried to keep this cube pretty basic, without any fancy sub-themes that would almost never come together during a 2-player draft. My major design goal is to simply make each 2- and 3-color combination viable since you never really know what you're going to wind up assembling from a Winchester or sealed-deck stack. So far I think I've been fairly successful at that, but like all cubes this is a perpetual work in progress.
Overview
Cube Size: 360 cards Breakdown: 53 each color, 34 colorless, 30 gold, 31 land Standard or Theme Cube: Pauper (all commons) Powered?: No Portal?: Yes Un- Cards?: No Custom Cards?: Yes (wedge panoramas) Banned Cards?: None Standard or Multiplayer: Standard Sideboards?: Yes Even Color Balance?: Yes Perfect Creature/Noncreature Balance?: No Gold Balance: Yes Hybrid/Kicker/Flashback as Gold: Yes Color Triggers as Gold: Yes Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
Cube Considerations
This is mostly a list of reminders for me to keep in mind while I'm tweaking my list over time, and as such will see edits from time to time. Other folks browsing my list are encouraged to make suggestions or comments.
How many defender-ish creatures does control want?
Keep fine-tuning the creature/noncreature/removal balance and mana curves in each color.
How are those mass-pump and battle cry effects in red and white working out for aggro/token decks?
Look into the possibility of a tri-color section, including shards AND wedges if at all viable.
Cube Contents
WWhiteW
White sets the premier standard for weenie aggro with the highest number of 1- and 2-drop creatures of any color, along with a few alpha-strike and mass pump effects to let the swarm go all in for the kill. On the control side, it contributes several quality blockers (first strike FTW!), tappers, and removal spells that answer every type of non-land permanent, along with some fliers to grind out a win once the ground game has been locked up.
Blue is the go-to color for control decks. It relies on counterspells and high-toughness blockers to answer early threats and goes on to win the long game through card advantage. But blue also has a more aggressive side: a drafter can combine blue's cheaper fliers and bounce effects with evasive threats from another color to create a cruel tempo deck.
True to flavor, black is the greediest and most selfish color by far since so many of its best cards have xBB mana requirements. But the drafter who's savvy enough to hoard all those black cards that everybody else passes along is rarely disappointed. Cheap intimidating threats and hand disruption make heavy-black aggro a force to be reckoned with. Black's plentiful spot removal and board wipes are not lost on the control crowd either.
Red is one of the most straightforward and aggressive colors to play, which makes it a perennial favorite for new and seasoned drafters alike. Although red is primarily an aggro color, control and midrange players are more than happy to grab a bit of burn to give them a bit of late-game reach or help them neutralize early threats from other aggro decks. Its spell section was once so stacked with burn as to make the color slightly boring and oppressive, and thus I've actually trimmed back the burn a bit to let red's other facets (artifact/land destruction and creature-based beatdown) shine a little brighter.
Green has the deepest creature bullpen of any color, bar none, exceeding all other colors in both quality and quantity. White comes close but green has far better curve-topping fat. Green plays aggro and midrange beatdown equally well, and it's not unusual to see a control player splash green for a huge trampling finisher. An assortment of mana acceleration/fixing, combat tricks, and light removal round out the spell section.
I've organized the multicolor cards along 2-color Ravnican guild lines, with each guild containing 3 cards (for a total of 30 cards). I may add 10 tri-color cards in the future -- one for each 3-color combination -- but probably not until WOTC prints some better wedge cards at common for me to choose from.
You'll notice that my land section contains a 5-card cycle of wedge panoramas. These are custom creations I made with Magic Set Editor; I'll figure out how to upload the images one of these days. They work exactly like the original panorama cycle from Shards of Alara, only they fetch basic lands for the wedge-color combinations instead. The names were taken from the wedge-color factions in Apocalypse.
Aesthetics problems:
Red has too many highd drop creatures and not enough one drops
Black has too many BB cards
Too many bad artifacts
Pretty bad multi color slots
New updates, people. I got a little more ambitious with this round of updates, so don't click the spoiler tag unless you're ready for a serious wall of text:
I like giving white a lot of one-drops, but I need to find stronger 1-drops than these. So this is just me smoothing out the curve in the creature section. Plus I hear Razor Golem is nuts.
I had high hopes for another leveler in blue since Halimar Wavewatch is so sick. But the Adept is so outclassed by Delver of Secrets it's not even funny. Spined Thopter has been fairly successful in earlier versions of my cube, and it feels good to re-complete the cycle of Phyrexian mana creatures.
I know most cubers don't like either card all that much, and Vapor Snag is generally considered to be the stronger of the two, but Unsummon is just so much more iconic. A core set without Unsummon would be like a core set without Fog. They're such simple and classic tricks that I like to keep them in my cube for the nostalgia value, even if they aren't necessarily the strongest cards. And Unsummon doesn't punish you for rescuing your own creature, which encourages the newbies I play with to experiment with that aspect of bounce.
The Replicas in general have not been impressing me. Moriok is probably the one that has seen the most play, but even when I draft it I always think: man, I wish this was just Phyrexian Rager instead. So I'm going to sideline it to try the Scorpion. It may well return at a later date.
I always wanted to like the Lizards but they have so rarely delivered the goods. Its 1/1 form rarely has much of an impact and there are far better hasty guys at the 3- and 5-CMC marks. They were the weak link I had to cut for my newly-acquired red sweeper.
Another Replica hits the bench. I've just seen the Cathar force through sick amounts of damage so much faster. He's the best bud of almost every 2-drop in an aggro deck.
I've been meaning to cut this particular Replica for a while now; I was really just waiting to pick up the Elder in a trade. The treefolk is a huge upgrade in every respect save casting cost. He's even playable in the main deck on game 1, something the Replica could just never pull off. You'd almost never want to sac a Sylvok Replica to blow up a random Signet, but the Elder happily eats anything and gets huge in the process. And even if he goes hungry, an on-curve Hill Giant is still playable enough in Limited.
Confession: I love wurms. I've been a sucker for them ever since I slammed a 4th Edition Craw Wurm during middle school games. Man, those were the days. But Thundering Tanadon, Stampeding Rhino, and Havenwood Wurm all do the fat trampler schtick better than the poor Yavimaya Wurm, who almost invariably gets cut from decks to make room for better finishers. The Courser just fits into most curves better.
I also love a good wall, which puts me at odds with much of the conventional wisdom of the MTGS Pauper Cube Thread regulars. But I think I have enough walls and other defensive creatures sprinkled throughout my colored sections to cut this one for my newly-acquired Desert. Quicksand makes aggro players cry, so I can't wait to see how its older and more durable cousin fares.
Again, I think I have enough defensive creatures without using equipment to make more. Except for Accorder's Shield. I love playing 'build your own Noble Templar.' Granting reach has been so much less relevant than vigilance, so the Net gets cut to make room for a proven piece of colorless removal.
Another round of updates. I usually tweak a few cards after several rounds of Winchester, or after I make some trades for stuff I've had on my wish list. Here goes:
Trade acquisition #1. I wouldn't say that the Cohort is strictly better than the Veteran, but it's pretty close. I've seen some people run both, but I'm not sure I want that many three drops. Maybe just one more, which brings us to...
I tried Smite on the advice of a friend, and it's OK, but you don't always have a way to block the attacker you really want to kill. Rebuke is more expensive but more reliable; almost a Rend Flesh in white.
This change demands some explanation: the Hartebeest is a house in 6-8 man drafts, but kind of lousy in Winchester and sealed deck, which is this cube's primary mode of play. In the months I've played with it, I've never gotten both the Hartebeest and enough Auras to make it live up to its potential during a Winchester draft. Contrast that with the Gateguards, who should almost always have something to bond with. Dropping two vigilant fatties on the field should give slower decks a dramatic way to stabilize and turn the game around against aggro. And I like the idea of having at least one soulbond guy in each non-black color. I'm a sucker for cycles.
Tried Encrust, didn't much care for it. It seems better in more powerful cubes where Sword of War and Peace is the big artifact threat instead of Bonesplitter. I've been looking for a place to trim back the UU casting costs, and this was it. Ice Cage is actually pretty good so long as the opponent lacks equipment; I've seen it do plenty of work in earlier versions of the cube.
Trade acquisition #3. Pauper Despise is good, no doubt, but it's not like black lacks ways to kill creatures after they hit the battlefield. Raven's Crime reads like a cluster bomb for B/x aggro to drop on the slower midrange and control decks after curving out. I can't wait to test it.
Nothing much to talk about here; these are all upgrades made possible through recent trading. I remember talking about the removal of Akrasan Squire to get the lone exalted source out of my cube, and now I've reintroduced that mechanic through the Qasali Pridemage. But I think it's OK since exalted isn't the only ability he provides. And people can't stop raving about him.
I haven't been impressed with the Larva. It gets worse the farther you stray from mono-green, and heavy green decks are pretty rare in 1-on-1 draft or sealed deck sessions. Green's 4-drop bench is deep enough that I think cutting him for another pure aggro dude is the right move.
Hello, I really like your custom wedge panoramas. I am currently in the process of making my own pauper cube and am using yours for inspiration. (Ok, I might just copy the entire thing and add some things I like)
Hello, I really like your custom wedge panoramas. I am currently in the process of making my own pauper cube and am using yours for inspiration. (Ok, I might just copy the entire thing and add some things I like)
Thanks! You're more than welcome to use them. That goes for any other readers as well: that's why I posted the images in the first place.
Been busy with work; will post another round of updates soon.
First of all, I need to pay my respects to Lanxal and the rest of the Pauper Cube thread community. My early versions of the cube were rather rough, to put it kindly, and following their discussions and browsing their own cube lists has helped me refine my own cube into something resembling a well-designed Limited format much more quickly than I could have done through playtesting alone. Thanks guys.
As the title suggests, I mostly play 1-on-1 sealed-deck matches and Winchester drafts with a couple of different friends, but I also run larger drafts (6-8 people) at my local game store from time to time. So I've tried to keep this cube pretty basic, without any fancy sub-themes that would almost never come together during a 2-player draft. My major design goal is to simply make each 2- and 3-color combination viable since you never really know what you're going to wind up assembling from a Winchester or sealed-deck stack. So far I think I've been fairly successful at that, but like all cubes this is a perpetual work in progress.
Overview
Breakdown: 53 each color, 34 colorless, 30 gold, 31 land
Standard or Theme Cube: Pauper (all commons)
Powered?: No
Portal?: Yes
Un- Cards?: No
Custom Cards?: Yes (wedge panoramas)
Banned Cards?: None
Standard or Multiplayer: Standard
Sideboards?: Yes
Even Color Balance?: Yes
Perfect Creature/Noncreature Balance?: No
Gold Balance: Yes
Hybrid/Kicker/Flashback as Gold: Yes
Color Triggers as Gold: Yes
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
Cube Considerations
This is mostly a list of reminders for me to keep in mind while I'm tweaking my list over time, and as such will see edits from time to time. Other folks browsing my list are encouraged to make suggestions or comments.
Cube Contents
Creatures
1 Caravan Escort
1 Deftblade Elite
1 Doomed Traveler
1 Gideon's Lawkeeper
1 Goldmeadow Harrier
1 Infantry Veteran
1 Steppe Lynx
CMC 2
1 Angelic Wall
1 Fledgling Griffin
1 Kami of Ancient Law
1 Knight of Cliffhaven
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Leonin Skyhunter
1 Lone Missionary
1 Loyal Cathar
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Raise the Alarm
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Youthful Knight
1 Apex Hawks
1 Attended Knight
1 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Ballynock Cohort
1 Chapel Geist
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Kor Hookmaster
CMC 4
1 Assault Griffin
1 Cenn's Enlistment
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Seraph of Dawn
1 Loxodon Partisan
1 Plover Knights
1 Spectral Gateguards
CMC 6 (LOL)
1 Razor Golem
Noncreatures
1 Hyena Umbra
1 Righteous Blow
1 Stave Off
CMC 2
1 Bonds of Faith
1 Dawn Charm
1 Disenchant
1 Spare from Evil
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Moment of Heroism
1 Pacifism
1 Arrest
1 Blinding Beam
1 Fortify
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Rebuke
1 Safe Passage
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Inspired Charge
U Blue U
Creatures
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Kraken Hatchling
1 Phantasmal Bear
1 Wingcrafter
CMC 2
1 Augury Owl
1 Halimar Wavewatch
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Spined Thopter
1 Welkin Tern
1 Aether Adept
1 Calcite Snapper
1 Headless Skaab
1 Neurok Invisimancer
1 Pestermite
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Stitched Drake
1 Stormbound Geist
1 Watercourser
1 Aven Fleetwing
1 Elgaud Shieldmate
1 Makeshift Mauler
1 Mist Raven
CMC 5
1 Gryff Vanguard
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Spire Monitor
CMC 7
1 Scrapdiver Serpent
Noncreatures
1 Flood
1 Force Spike
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Spell Pierce
1 Unsummon
CMC 2
1 Counterspell
1 Deprive
1 Eel Umbra
1 Essence Scatter
1 Ice Cage
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Think Twice
1 Claustrophobia
1 Compulsive Research
1 Frost Breath
1 Repulse
1 Rushing River
CMC 4
1 Bone to Ash
1 Foresee
1 Ray of Command
1 Tricks of the Trade
1 Capsize
CMC X
1 Power Sink
1 Repeal
B Black B
Creatures
1 Fume Spitter
1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Tormented Soul
1 Typhoid Rats
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Vile Rebirth
CMC 2
1 Child of Night
1 Drudge Skeletons
1 Erg Raiders
1 Foul Imp
1 Highborn Ghoul
1 Nezumi Cutthroat
1 Ravenous Rats
1 Ruthless Cullblade
1 Surrakar Marauder
1 Vampire Interloper
1 Blind Zealot
1 Crypt Rats
1 Giant Scorpion
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Skulking Knight
CMC 4
1 Crypt Ripper
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Gravedigger
1 Mortis Dogs
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Pith Driller
1 Rotting Legion
CMC 6
1 Twisted Abomination
Noncreatures
1 Dark Ritual
1 Dead Weight
1 Duress
1 Raven's Crime
1 Tortured Existence
1 Tragic Slip
1 Vendetta
1 Altar's Reap
1 Doom Blade
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Last Gasp
1 Sign in Blood
1 Skeletal Grimace
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Mind Rot
1 Murder
1 Rend Flesh
CMC 4
1 Mark of the Vampire
1 Pestilence
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Disturbed Burial
CMC X
1 Stir the Grave
R Red R
Creatures
1 Forge Devil
1 Goblin Arsonist
1 Goblin Patrol
1 Martyr of Ashes
1 Spark Elemental
CMC 2
1 Ashmouth Hound
1 Bloodcrazed Neonate
1 Dragon Hatchling
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Goblin Shortcutter
1 Hinterland Hermit
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Kruin Striker
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Plated Geopede
1 Stingscourger
1 Torch Fiend
1 Blood Ogre
1 Feral Ridgewolf
1 Fervent Cathar
1 Hanweir Lancer
1 Ronin Houndmaster
1 Spikeshot Goblin
1 Vulshok Sorcerer
CMC 4
1 Bladetusk Boar
1 Gorehorn Minotaurs
1 Slash Panther
1 Kuldotha Ringleader
1 Torch Slinger
CMC 6
1 Chartooth Cougar
Noncreatures
1 Burst Lightning
1 Faithless Looting
1 Flame Slash
1 Geistflame
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Seal of Fire
CMC 2
1 Incinerate
1 Nightbird's Clutches
1 Rain of Embers
1 Searing Blaze
1 Searing Spear
1 Smash to Smithereens
1 Act of Treason
1 Arc Lightning
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Molten Rain
1 Staggershock
1 Stone Rain
1 Trumpet Blast
1 Chandra's Outrage
1 Demolish
CMC X
1 Fireball
1 Rolling Thunder
G Green G
Creatures
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Basking Rootwalla
1 Jungle Lion
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Scythe Tiger
1 Young Wolf
CMC 2
1 Ambush Viper
1 Darkthicket Wolf
1 Dawntreader Elk
1 Garruk's Companion
1 Mire Boa
1 Nightshade Peddler
1 River Boa
1 Silhana Ledgewalker
1 Viridian Emissary
1 Wall of Roots
1 Wandering Wolf
1 Borderland Ranger
1 Centaur Courser
1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Hungry Spriggan
1 Simian Grunts
1 Trusted Forcemage
1 Villagers of Estwald
CMC 4
1 Festerhide Boar
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Primal Huntbeast
1 Thundering Tanadon
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Sentinel Spider
1 Sprout Swarm
1 Stampeding Rhino
CMC 6
1 Mold Shambler
CMC 7
1 Havenwood Wurm
Noncreatures
1 Mutagenic Growth
CMC 1
1 Giant Growth
1 Prey Upon
1 Rancor
1 Utopia Sprawl
CMC 2
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Evolution Charm
1 Moment's Peace
1 Naturalize
1 Predator's Strike
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Arachnus Web
1 Crushing Vines
1 Cultivate
1 Gift of the Gargantuan
1 Harrow
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Snake Umbra
X Colorless X
1 Flayer Husk
1 Perilous Myr
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Phyrexian Hulk
1 Ulamog's Crusher
Equipment
1 Accorder's Shield
1 Adventuring Gear
1 Blazing Torch
1 Bonesplitter
1 Copper Carapace
1 Kitesail
1 Leonin Bola
1 Strider Harness
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Vulshok Morningstar
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Manalith
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Prophetic Prism
1 Traveler's Amulet
Signets
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Golgari Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Serrated Arrows
1 Tumble Magnet
GRBUW Multicolor WUBRG
1 Deft Duelist
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Hindering Light
Boros
1 Fire at Will
1 Orim's Thunder
1 Skyknight Legionnaire
Dimir
1 Agony Warp
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Recoil
Golgari
1 Consume Strength
1 Putrid Leech
1 Rendclaw Trow
1 Kird Ape
1 Branching Bolt
1 Wild Hunger
Izzet
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Noggle Bandit
1 Steamcore Weird
Orzhov
1 Blind Hunter
1 Pillory of the Sleepless
1 Unmake
Rakdos
1 Blightning
1 Bump in the Night
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Travel Preparations
Simic
1 Assault Zeppelid
1 Snakeform
1 Vigean Hydropon
***** Land *****
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Rupture Spire
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Ravnica Bouncelands
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Boros Garrison
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Gruul Turf
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Jund Panorama
1 Naya Panorama
Wedge Panoramas
1 Ana Panorama
1 Ceta Panorama
1 Dega Panorama
1 Necra Panorama
1 Raka Panorama
1 Desert
1 Halimar Depths
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Khalni Garden
1 Quicksand
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Teetering Peaks
Custom Wedge Panoramas
Cube Changelog
8/14/2012
Wall of Tanglecord ----> Wall of Roots
Steward of Valeron ----> Qasali Pridemage
Timbermaw Larva ----> Scythe Tiger
8/7/2012
Stonehorn Dignitary ----> Chapel Geist
Totem-Guide Hartebeest ----> Spectral Gateguards
Smite ----> Rebuke
Divination ----> Compulsive Research
Encrust ----> Ice Cage
Ostracize ----> Raven's Crime
8/3/2012
Suntail Hawk ----> Razor Golem
Skywatcher Adept ----> Spined Thopter
Vapor Snag ----> Unsummon
Moriok Replica ----> Giant Scorpion
Forge Devil ----> Martyr of Ashes
Krenko's Command ----> Mogg War Marshal
Vulshok Replica ----> Fervent Cathar
Sylvok Replica ----> Wickerbough Elder
Yavimaya Wurm ----> Centaur Courser
Steel Wall ----> Desert
Spidersilk Net ----> Blazing Torch
7/26/2012
Ogre Resister ----> Spikeshot Goblin
Scroll Thief ----> Watercourser
Card inclusion:
Aesthetics problems:
Red has too many highd drop creatures and not enough one drops
Black has too many BB cards
Too many bad artifacts
Pretty bad multi color slots
My errata'd commons cube
Suntail Hawk ----> Razor Golem
I like giving white a lot of one-drops, but I need to find stronger 1-drops than these. So this is just me smoothing out the curve in the creature section. Plus I hear Razor Golem is nuts.
Skywatcher Adept ----> Spined Thopter
I had high hopes for another leveler in blue since Halimar Wavewatch is so sick. But the Adept is so outclassed by Delver of Secrets it's not even funny. Spined Thopter has been fairly successful in earlier versions of my cube, and it feels good to re-complete the cycle of Phyrexian mana creatures.
Vapor Snag ----> Unsummon
I know most cubers don't like either card all that much, and Vapor Snag is generally considered to be the stronger of the two, but Unsummon is just so much more iconic. A core set without Unsummon would be like a core set without Fog. They're such simple and classic tricks that I like to keep them in my cube for the nostalgia value, even if they aren't necessarily the strongest cards. And Unsummon doesn't punish you for rescuing your own creature, which encourages the newbies I play with to experiment with that aspect of bounce.
Moriok Replica ----> Giant Scorpion
The Replicas in general have not been impressing me. Moriok is probably the one that has seen the most play, but even when I draft it I always think: man, I wish this was just Phyrexian Rager instead. So I'm going to sideline it to try the Scorpion. It may well return at a later date.
Skitter of Lizards ----> Martyr of Ashes
I always wanted to like the Lizards but they have so rarely delivered the goods. Its 1/1 form rarely has much of an impact and there are far better hasty guys at the 3- and 5-CMC marks. They were the weak link I had to cut for my newly-acquired red sweeper.
Krenko's Command ----> Mogg War Marshal
My latest round of trading paid off with this almost universally better upgrade. Huzzah!
Vulshok Replica ----> Fervent Cathar
Another Replica hits the bench. I've just seen the Cathar force through sick amounts of damage so much faster. He's the best bud of almost every 2-drop in an aggro deck.
Sylvok Replica ----> Wickerbough Elder
I've been meaning to cut this particular Replica for a while now; I was really just waiting to pick up the Elder in a trade. The treefolk is a huge upgrade in every respect save casting cost. He's even playable in the main deck on game 1, something the Replica could just never pull off. You'd almost never want to sac a Sylvok Replica to blow up a random Signet, but the Elder happily eats anything and gets huge in the process. And even if he goes hungry, an on-curve Hill Giant is still playable enough in Limited.
Yavimaya Wurm ----> Centaur Courser
Confession: I love wurms. I've been a sucker for them ever since I slammed a 4th Edition Craw Wurm during middle school games. Man, those were the days. But Thundering Tanadon, Stampeding Rhino, and Havenwood Wurm all do the fat trampler schtick better than the poor Yavimaya Wurm, who almost invariably gets cut from decks to make room for better finishers. The Courser just fits into most curves better.
Steel Wall ----> Desert
I also love a good wall, which puts me at odds with much of the conventional wisdom of the MTGS Pauper Cube Thread regulars. But I think I have enough walls and other defensive creatures sprinkled throughout my colored sections to cut this one for my newly-acquired Desert. Quicksand makes aggro players cry, so I can't wait to see how its older and more durable cousin fares.
Spidersilk Net ----> Blazing Torch
Again, I think I have enough defensive creatures without using equipment to make more. Except for Accorder's Shield. I love playing 'build your own Noble Templar.' Granting reach has been so much less relevant than vigilance, so the Net gets cut to make room for a proven piece of colorless removal.
Benalish Veteran ----> Ballynock Cohort
Trade acquisition #1. I wouldn't say that the Cohort is strictly better than the Veteran, but it's pretty close. I've seen some people run both, but I'm not sure I want that many three drops. Maybe just one more, which brings us to...
Stonehorn Dignitary ----> Chapel Geist
I have enough Fog effects already. I wanted another 3-drop flyer in white, and the Geist is solid.
Smite ----> Rebuke
I tried Smite on the advice of a friend, and it's OK, but you don't always have a way to block the attacker you really want to kill. Rebuke is more expensive but more reliable; almost a Rend Flesh in white.
Totem-Guide Hartebeest ----> Spectral Gateguards
This change demands some explanation: the Hartebeest is a house in 6-8 man drafts, but kind of lousy in Winchester and sealed deck, which is this cube's primary mode of play. In the months I've played with it, I've never gotten both the Hartebeest and enough Auras to make it live up to its potential during a Winchester draft. Contrast that with the Gateguards, who should almost always have something to bond with. Dropping two vigilant fatties on the field should give slower decks a dramatic way to stabilize and turn the game around against aggro. And I like the idea of having at least one soulbond guy in each non-black color. I'm a sucker for cycles.
Encrust ----> Ice Cage
Tried Encrust, didn't much care for it. It seems better in more powerful cubes where Sword of War and Peace is the big artifact threat instead of Bonesplitter. I've been looking for a place to trim back the UU casting costs, and this was it. Ice Cage is actually pretty good so long as the opponent lacks equipment; I've seen it do plenty of work in earlier versions of the cube.
Divination ----> Compulsive Research
Trade acquisition #2. Seems like a pretty straightforward upgrade to me.
Ostracize ----> Raven's Crime
Trade acquisition #3. Pauper Despise is good, no doubt, but it's not like black lacks ways to kill creatures after they hit the battlefield. Raven's Crime reads like a cluster bomb for B/x aggro to drop on the slower midrange and control decks after curving out. I can't wait to test it.
Fog ----> Moment's Peace
Wall of Tanglecord ----> Wall of Roots
Steward of Valeron ----> Qasali Pridemage
Nothing much to talk about here; these are all upgrades made possible through recent trading. I remember talking about the removal of Akrasan Squire to get the lone exalted source out of my cube, and now I've reintroduced that mechanic through the Qasali Pridemage. But I think it's OK since exalted isn't the only ability he provides. And people can't stop raving about him.
Timbermaw Larva ----> Scythe Tiger
I haven't been impressed with the Larva. It gets worse the farther you stray from mono-green, and heavy green decks are pretty rare in 1-on-1 draft or sealed deck sessions. Green's 4-drop bench is deep enough that I think cutting him for another pure aggro dude is the right move.
Thanks! You're more than welcome to use them. That goes for any other readers as well: that's why I posted the images in the first place.
Been busy with work; will post another round of updates soon.